NBA News - Week of 4/23/07

Yes, a couple of these NBA news items are a little behind in terms of posting dates, but they're still newsworthy and maybe some regulars of the site haven't seen them yet.

2006-2007 NBA Coach of the Year - This year's coaching award went to the Toronto Raptors' Sam Mitchell, for improving the Raptors record by 20 games (best in the NBA). I really have no issues w/ this pick, but there are certainly other coaches who could've just as easily won the award. Among them, the Mavs Avery Johnson (NBA best 67 wins), the Jazz' Jerry Sloan (lost the award w/ late slide), and the Cavs' Mike Brown for getting the #2 seed in the East, despite having a pretty weak team.

2006-2007 NBA Most Improved Player - The most improved award went to the Golden State Warriors' Monta Ellis. In the closest voting ever, Ellis edged out the Kings' Kevin Martin for the award by only 3 points. Ellis averaged 16.5 pts, 4.1 assists and 3.2 rbs this season for the Warriors.

Check back again soon when announce the NBA's MVP and analyze each playoff series in more detail.